Preview

Ethical Decision-Making In Health Care

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
422 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Ethical Decision-Making In Health Care
Analysis of an Ethical Dilemma-Part II
Grand Canyon University
Ethical Decision Making in Health Care
NRS-437V-O192
Analysis of an Ethical Dilemma-Part II
Larry Schmidt, Registered Nurse (RN) , Bachelors of Science in Nursing (BSN), Masters of Science in Health Administration (MSA) is a veteran nurse with over 30 years of experience in health care. In addition to his impressive credentials, he is also the Central Valley Service Area Director of the Emergency Department at Kaiser Permanente. Larry was an easy choice when choosing a hospital administrator to interview regarding an ethical dilemma, not only for his significant experience in healthcare administration, but also because of his vast experience with patients, their families and ethical dilemmas.
…show more content…
Larry stated that professionally, he believes it is his duty to support his patients, to help them make the best decision for themselves and to allow them to die with dignity. If that means, supporting their decision to legally initiate their own death, then it is a decision that should be honored. On the other hand, personally Larry has a conflicting view because of his strong religious beliefs. Larry stated that “I do not believe in suicide. However, I do believe in making my patients comfortable. Personally, I do not believe that we should go to extraordinary measures and hasten the process of death purposefully. If it were me personally, I feel that I would allow nature to take its course.” (L. Schmidt, personal communication, November 11,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Clinicians are expected to provide medical services to help others. However, there is a debate about whether clinicians should treat friends and family, members also known as non-patients. “Treatment of non-patients is widespread, with some studies reporting nearly 100 percent of physicians engaging in this practice” (Latessa & Ray, 2005, p.42). A case was presented where a physician assistant (PA Brian) was asked to treat his supervising physician (Dr.Yarnell) for different medical conditions while prescribing multiple controlled substances. Legal standards provide vague ethical guidance regarding this issue and leave a lot of blank spaces open for clinician interpretation. In Dr.Yarnell and PA Brian’s case there were numerous ethical dilemmas that can be examined under the four ethical principles of medicine: beneficence, nonmaleficence, respect for autonomy, and justice.…

    • 683 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Often involved in the change, implementation, and review of hospital organizational policy, a hospital ethics committee, which can be multidisciplinary (Austin, 2017), can even initiate a necessary policy that can prevent an ethical issue from recurring in the future. The persons that Mr. J’s daughter approached (the Jewish physician, the hospital administrator, etc.) can comprise the in-house ethics committee.…

    • 771 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The term ethical dilemma refers to a situation in which there are two morally correct paths to take, but to follow one…

    • 1172 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Pearlman, R. A. (2010). Ethics Committees and Ethics Consultation. In (pp. -). University of Washington School of Medicine., retrieved, April 2013., http://depts..washington.edu/bioethics/topics/ethics.html…

    • 1385 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Mrs. X: Yes he has. He told me that he may suffer damage to his brain and to his nerves.…

    • 1192 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Nurses are faced with ethical dilemmas on nearly a daily basis when practicing within hospitals, physician’s offices and outpatient settings. How one responds to those dilemmas are based on the ethical framework upon which the nurse bases her care and practice. Ethical frameworks can be described as a set of one or more ethical guidelines which can be combined and used to solve ethical questions or dilemmas. (answers corporation, 2013)…

    • 1113 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    There is a difference between being nice and involved in a patient’s life and healthcare and being with that patient and making irrational choices for the patient because of that relationship clouding up judgement. A lot of doctors say that a relationship with a patient is unethical and unprofessional. According to a survey done by Medscape in 2012 asking 24,000 doctors, “is it ever acceptable to become involved in a romantic or sexual relationship with a patient?” 1% say that “yes” “even if it’s with a current patient”, 22% say “yes, 6 months after they stopped being a patient” and 68% say “no”. There is the last 9% that say that it depends on the situation (Physicians Top Ethical Dilemmas), which is the grey area that everyone questions.…

    • 165 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The profession of nursing must have high values and ethics, but how does a nurse make that tough ethical decision. Ethical decision making is defined as “The process of choosing between actions based on a system of beliefs and values” (Black, 2014, p. 347). The nurse has to go through a process to come to the most ethical and just decision based on their facility and their ethics.…

    • 196 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Health Care Ethics

    • 254 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Bartling case was about whether William Bartling had the right, over the objection of his physicians and the hospital, to have life-support equipment disconnected despite the fact that withdrawal of such devices will surely hasten his death. When he entered Glendale Adventist Hospital in California in 1984, he was known to be suffering from emphysema and diffuse arteriosclerosis, coronary arteriosclerosis, abdominal aneurysm, and inoperable lung cancer. At the end, He had to use mechanical respiratory and chest tube to assist his breathing in the ICU. Although each of these conditions could individually be lethal, he was not diagnosed as terminally ill. At first, Mr. Bartling asked his physicians to remove the ventilator but they refused. Then Mr. Bartling attempted to remove the ventilator tubes but was unsuccessful. Eventually, to prevent his attempt, he was placed in restraints so that the tubes could remain in place. The case was taken to Los Angeles Superior Court by Mr. Scott. Because he was not considered terminally ill, the court refused either to allow the respirator to be disconnected or to order that Mr. Bartling’s hands be freed. At the second time, the case was taken to the California Court of Appeal. However, the result was that Mr. Bartling had the right to make his own decision, which was obviously different with the first time. So I think the main issue in this case is about patient’s decision-making capacity, specifically, when patient is able to make make the decision of his own medical…

    • 254 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Healthcare Ethical Issues

    • 795 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In the health care field there are many ethical issues that arise. But in healthcare, ethical issues are very common. Almost every decision has an ethical implication either for the primary provider, the patient, or the healthcare administrator. As stated by Larson (2013) issues such as balancing care quality and efficiency, improving access to care, building and supporting the healthcare workforce, addressing end of life situations, and dealing with limited medications and donor organs are most likely to be encountered by a healthcare administrator.…

    • 795 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Health Care Ethics

    • 819 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The basic rights of human beings, such as concern for personal dignity, are always of great importance. During illness, however, these rights are extremely vital and must be protected. Therefore, healthcare providers should make an effort to assure that these rights are preserved for their patients. Likewise, health care providers have the right to expect reasonable and responsible behavior on the part of our patients, their relatives, and friends. This is where the patient's bill of rights comes into play.…

    • 819 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Personal Ethics

    • 856 Words
    • 4 Pages

    stems from what I believe to be core-nursing characteristics. These aspects are derived from my…

    • 856 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Within the healthcare field, a worker will have to make some ethical decisions. These decisions may be easy, but most will be hard to make. There are certain code of ethics a healthcare worker needs to follow in order to create the best work environment for them and for the patients. These are set so that everyone has an equal understanding of the ethics.…

    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Healthcare is highly sensitive and influenced by the established principles of a strict code of conduct. The established principles contribute significantly in the mode of operations and service delivery. Also, healthcare is associated with a wide range of tasks as well as decision-making procedures that are affiliated to the provided protocols. The US health care sector adopted principles that enable execution of tasks safeguards the interests the patients’ through provision of top quality services. Notably, the healthcare sector is associated with both expensive research and experiments that are geared towards improving the service delivery. However, the research and experiment are faced with ethical issues or dilemmas…

    • 852 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Breast cancer is different for every patient, with treatment tailored to each individual case. The key is to closely follow your health care team’s instructions for the steps and medications to take. Be persistent in following your treatment. Keep notes and communicate regularly with your doctor about the effects of your treatment. If you feel there’s a problem with your treatment, or are experiencing any side effects, talk to your doctor right away about these concerns. Don’t hold back from asking questions. Be pro-active and involved in the decision-making about your health.…

    • 291 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays